The invention relates generally to interfacing between host computer s and peripheral devices and, more particularly, to providing host computer access to peripheral device drivers.
Conventionally, when a host computer such as a personal computer, engineering workstation, etc. is connected to a peripheral device such as a printer, monitor, or even a PCI or EISA card, the peripheral device identifies itself uniquely to the host computer so the host computer can then search for a device driver for use with that peripheral device. The term xe2x80x9cdevice driverxe2x80x9d conventionally refers to software that must be installed in the host computer in order to permit the host computer to use the features of the device. The host computer can use the unique identification received from the peripheral device to search for the appropriate driver on, e.g., a floppy disk, CD-ROM or within the operating system utilized by the host computer platform. Although the peripheral device uniquely identifies itself to the host computer, the peripheral device does not tell the host computer where to find the driver. The host""s operating system needs some independent knowledge of suitable places to search for the driver. After the device driver is located and retrieved, the host computer can use the device driver to access the features of the peripheral device.
The aforementioned conventional technique of providing host computer access to a device driver associated with a connected peripheral device is often referred to as Plug-and-Play (PnP). Plug-and-Play assumes a specific driver for each device. Because drivers are by nature operation system-specific, Plug-and-Play does not promote interoperability. Although Plug-and-Play is typically adequate for use with peripheral devices such as EISA and PCI cards, Plug-and-Play""s lack of interoperability presents a problem when, for example, the peripheral device is a wireless device such as a mobile telephone, that can move from one host computer to another and can connect to virtually any type of host computer, for example personal computers, personal digital assistants and Smartphones.
The conventional Plug-and-Play technique is not suitable for use with such highly mobile peripheral devices, because each of the various host computer platforms to which the mobile peripheral device can be connected must be able to locate and retrieve the device driver associated with the mobile peripheral device. Conventional Plug-and-Play typically assumes that the peripheral device will be accompanied by a suitable data storage medium (such as a floppy disk or a CD-ROM) when it is first connected/installed at the host computer, and that the host computer will be able to search for, locate and retrieve the device driver stored by that data storage medium. It is disadvantageous to require a user of a mobile peripheral device also to carry a storage medium (such as a floppy disk or CD-ROM) for use when connecting the mobile device to a given host computer.
It is therefore desirable to give a host computer access to a device driver associated with a connected peripheral device, without requiring the peripheral device to be accompanied by a data storage medium having the device driver stored therein, and without requiring the host computer to search for the device driver.
According to the present invention, a peripheral device connected to a host computer is cooperable with the host computer to direct the host computer to the appropriate device driver (or other device-related information), which is stored at an external location accessible to the host computer via an external data path. The host computer can then download the device driver automatically.